Unlike Any Other
by whitecrossgirl
Summary: A series of one-shots based around Hotch and Emily's friendship/romance ranging from canon stories to AUs. 9: 'Text Support': Emily's had one of her Bad Days and Aaron finds an unusual way of helping her
1. Snowball Fight

**AN: I really love Hotch and Emily as both a couple and best friends, both dynamics work perfect for me personally. So I figured I'd write a series of oneshots about their friendship with possible romance or AUs. If you guys have any suggestions, feel free to submit them.**

Emily waked carefully through the snow, her shoes crunching on the white ground and as she looked up at the steely grey sky, she felt an overwhelming sense of sadness. The last time she'd been in the snow had been when Matthew died and there had been so much that had happened since the last snowfall and this one.

It had been a few months since Haley had been killed and they could all see how much Aaron was trying to keep it together, not to break down as he tried to balance being a single father, working with the BAU and dealing with his and Jack's grief. The entire team had rallied around, helping to look after Jack, assisting Aaron with paperwork, dealing with senior agents who had the nerve to criticise or simply go to a bar with him, sit and listen to him open up about how he really felt, once Emily sat and held him all night as he finally broke down and sobbed. It was a sign of how much of a family they had become, the way all of them pulled together to help Aaron. Even Strauss had helped by dealing with the higher authorities in the FBI and protecting and defending the entire BAU the way a lioness would protect her cubs.

Their friendship and support had helped Aaron but as Emily thought about it, there was so much that was left to do to help. Obviously Aaron would never recover from losing Haley, they had loved each other for so long and even after the divorce they had remained close. He was slightly more open with them but the only one who really cheered him up was Jack. Whilst it had been rare beforehand to see him loosen up or smile, even when they were unwinding or messing round in the office or having banter on the jet; he never joined in or cracked a smile. Obviously none of them expected him to be laughing and joking all the time, he was grieving after all.

Even so, it would be nice for him to smile, Emily thought to herself. She wished she could help him smile again.

_Splat!_

"What the hell?" Emily exclaimed as the cold snow exploded against the back of her head. Speak of the devil. Aaron was standing a few feet away from her, a sheepish expression on his face.

"Sorry Emily, I don't know what came over me." Aaron apologised but instead of getting angry the way she would if it had been Morgan, Emily grinned and walked over to him, stopping to scoop up a handful of snow.

"You will be sorry!" Emily said by way of warning. Quick as a flash, she shoved the snow down the back of his neck. Aaron jerked around before Emily's laughter caused him to look at her. The melting snow was dripping and freezing his back but he did his best to maintain his stoic composure. For a moment they looked at each other before Aaron raised an eyebrow.

"Oh it's on." Aaron said and quickly made another snowball and looked up to see Emily hit him in the face with a second snowball before she turned and hurried across the snow-covered ground.

"Bring it on Hotch!" Emily called and jeered as his snowball missed her by a foot and she retaliated, missing him by a few inches.

"That all you got Prentiss?" Aaron called as he dodged another snowball aimed for his head and made his own snowball and chased after a laughing Emily.

For the next while the two agents ran around throwing snowballs at one another, yelling when they got hit or their own shots went wide, slipping slightly on the ice under the snow or teaming up to throw snowballs at other agents who either loitered too long watching or targeting the team simply because they could. Both of them ought to have long gone inside and started working but neither of them was willing to end the war. For a start they were having too much fun and secondly, neither of them was willing to surrender and be the loser. Both of them were caught up in the thrill of the battle and had ranged from calling joking insults to one another to mimicking battle cries to insisting the other surrender.

"What are you two doing?" Rossi's voice sounded right behind them, both Aaron and Emily paused, arms arched back ready to fire snow at one another. The two agents looked at one another and without speaking they nodded, turned and threw both snowballs at Rossi, both of them hitting him square in the face.

"Sorry," Emily laughed as Rossi wiped his now-freezing face and looked ready to say something when an unexpected sound stopped them.

Laughter.

Both of them looked at Aaron who was holding a hand to his mouth but it wasn't enough to stifle his laughter and Emily joined in with the laughing. Now that she thought about it, the whole time they had been engaged in their snowball fight, Aaron had had a broad grin on his face.

"Sorry Dave," Aaron laughed and Rossi looked at them both. He couldn't begrudge them for this, Aaron had gone through so much and if this had made him feel better and laugh then he wasn't going to ruin it by getting mad. It was only snow after all.

"Just don't do it again, alright? I'm not overly fond of snow." Rossi said and turned to walk into the FBI building. He realised his mistake of having turned his back the second before two more snowballs hit him. One in the back and the other on the back of the head.

Rossi turned to see Aaron and Emily standing wearing expressions of innocence, Emily was whistling and Aaron had his hands behind his back as he gazed around. Rossi rolled his eyes and continued walking inside. As soon as he was out of sight, Aaron and Emily burst out laughing.

"Did you see his face?" Emily asked once she'd calmed down.

"Priceless, I think it's the only time I've ever seen him speechless." Aaron quipped and Emily smirked at him.

"So you can make jokes." Emily retorted and Aaron shrugged his shoulders.

"It happens every so often." Aaron replied as they walked across the now-slushy ground; the snow having been trodden and trampled by other agents and destroyed by their intense snowball battle. As they walked into the FBI building and headed for the lift, they realised how much melted snow clutched to their hair and coats and began brushing off the melting remnants. Neither of them spoke as the lift took them up to the BAU floor but as they walked into the bullpen, Aaron turned and smiled at Emily.

"Emily, thanks." Aaron said and Emily returned his smile as they pushed open the bullpen doors.

"Anytime Aaron, anytime." Emily replied. They were late to work, covered in snow, more than likely to come down with colds for spending almost an hour out in the snow but honestly, she didn't care. They had had fun and if it had meant that Aaron was smiling, he had laughed and had some genuine fun for possibly the first time after all this stuff with Foyet started and Haley had died.

That meant it would always have been worth it.


	2. Girl Talk

**AN: This one is inspired by a prompt from SouthunLady. Just a slightly crackish one and not really one for Beth fans. Bear in mind this is simply done in the name of humour and if you do like Beth, try not to take this so seriously. This idea simply amused me. Enjoy!**

"Is it all right if I sit here?" Emily asked the dark-haired woman who was sitting at the only table with a free seat in the crowded café. The woman looked up and nodded as Emily sat down and offered her a smile. "It's Beth isn't it? We met at the triathlon. I work with Aaron."

"Oh yes I remember," Beth replied and looked at Emily with slight suspicion. "Have you and Aaron worked together for very long?"

"About four years but we knew each other before I joined the BAU. He worked for my mother doing security clearance and during the summer when I was home from Yale we hung out together." Emily replied, she would be lying if she said she didn't enjoy the look on Beth's face. Clearly the other woman saw her as some form of threat. Oh this could be fun…

"So would you say you're close then?" Beth asked, she really did not like the woman sat opposite her. If she was telling the truth and had known Aaron for so long then that wasn't good. Beth already knew the other two women Aaron worked with were no threat. One of them was in a committed relationship and had a child, the other was clearly not the sort of woman Aaron went for. This one however, the attractive (Beth begrudgingly admitted) brunette could be a problem. She never let anyone get between her and her chosen man. Especially not this one.

"Well, as close as Hotch lets himself get to someone. You know how he is, very private and secretive. Not to mention the fact the BAU come first which has been a problem for him." Emily replied, doing her best to hide her smirk as Beth nodded and took a sip of her drink.

"Yes he explained to me about Haley, it was tragic." Beth commented and Emily nodded.

"Yes it was, the saddest part was that they didn't divorce because they didn't love each other. Just is the job gets in the way. It was the same for him and Rebecca." Emily commented, ready to burst out laughing at the look on Beth's face as the curator clearly attempted to remain calm.

"Rebecca? Who's Rebecca?" Beth asked and Emily took a drink and pretended to rack her brains.

"Hotch dated her a few times but then she got angry at the job coming first and they ended it. Then there was Lucy, same story. Hannah, Hannah was an interesting one. Hotch caught her with someone else, or was that Malory? No, I'm sure her name was Tina? You know," Emily paused to smile at Beth's horrified face. "There's just been so many I've simply been unable to keep track of all their names. Either way they never last long. Few weeks at most."

"Aaron and I have been dating for nearly four months." Beth said defiantly. Her mind boggled at these different women. The way Emily was explaining it to her made her wonder briefly if Emily was simply being lying, she was obviously jealous of Beth's relationship with Aaron. Yes that was it.

"Impressive. Guess that means Derek's leading the betting pool." Emily said as Beth's eyes bulged.

"Betting pool?" Beth repeated. What was this? Some sort of sick joke? She asked as much to Emily who shrugged her shoulders.

"No, it's not a joke, only our bit of fun. We make bets all the time; how long until JJ and Will finally get married, when's Rossi going to find Wife Number Four. It's nothing serious. Anyway it's nothing to worry about. I'm sure you and Aaron will stay together." Emily lied; this was too easy.

Emily wasn't usually such a bitch, especially not to people she didn't know that well but there always had been something about Beth that really rubbed her up the wrong way. Emily couldn't put her finger on what it was, there just was something off-putting about the woman. So when she was given the chance to mess with the head of her best friend's girlfriend, she had jumped at the chance. She was doing this for Hotch, the two of them were close friend and she was only looking out for him. All she was really doing was protecting Hotch in the long run.

"Yes we will." Beth insisted as she felt anger build up in her as she regarded Emily who was watching her carefully as she sipped her latte. She felt an overwhelming urge to punch the agent in the face but even Beth knew that was stupid. Aaron would hate it if she ever harmed one of his precious agents.

"Of course," Emily said with a condescending tone in her voice. "That's what they all say. It always ends the same way though. When it's over Aaron comes and talks to me about what the latest one did, have a nice little ranting session. Then we'd have a few beers and crash at the other's place. It's almost like our own little family tradition you know?"

Beth shook her head and offered a smirk of her own to Emily. "You're just jealous."

Emily actually laughed at that comment. "Believe me Beth, I have nothing to be jealous of. Especially not you. Aaron and I are best friends, closer than siblings and nothing and nobody, not even you could change that." Emily paused before she added the killer blow. "Jack loves me too, he always calls me Emmy. He's such a sweet boy."

Emily knew that Jack hadn't warmed to Beth either, he had confided as much in Emily and she had been heartbroken to think that Jack was having to pretend to like a woman he clearly hated because he thought it'd make Hotch happy. _Game, set and match to Prentiss,_ Emily thought to herself as Beth's face coloured with rage and she looked as though she was trying to find something, anything to combat what Emily had said to her. Just then Emily's phone rang and as she looked at the name on the screen, she smirked at Beth.

"Speak of the Devil," Emily said and answered the phone. "Hey Hotch what's up?"

"Case in Las Vegas, have your go-bag ready. Wheels' up in thirty." Hotch replied and Emily smiled.

"See you in a few minutes." Emily said and hung up. "Well this was fun but I have to go. Duty calls you know? We're going to Vegas this time and you know what they say about Vegas."

Beth glared at her, there was no denying that the woman despised Emily but she honestly didn't care. She'd had her fun. As Emily got up, she smirked at Beth who was still glaring at her.

"Don't give me that look. You have to hate me remember? Aaron and I are simply best friends and nothing more. Although what happens in Vegas does tend to stay in Vegas." Emily said with a smirk and winked at Beth before she walked out of the coffee shop, leaving a stunned and furious Beth in her wake. Emily glanced back as she walked out of the café to see Beth reaching for her phone, clearly about to call Hotch.

This oughta to be good.

As Emily reached the BAU, she found Hotch standing in his office, go-bag on his shoulder. He was clearly on the receiving end of an ear-bashing from Beth judging by the look on his face and as Emily grabbed her bag and walked up to his office, she could hear what Hotch was saying.

"No I mean it Beth. We're over and if you ever contact me or any of my team again then I swear you'll regret it now leave me alone." Hotch snapped and ended the call. He looked up as Emily slipped into the room and shut the door. For a moment there was silence then the two friends grinned at one another.

"Ding dong the bitch is gone!" Emily commented as she and Hotch high-fived one another with a laugh.

"Finally, I've been trying to end it for weeks. It was like trying to dump an octopus, every time I tried to pull away, she kept clutching tighter." Hotch commented as they made their way out of his office to join the rest of the team.

"Thanks for the mental image." Emily said with a fake shudder.

"Anytime. I owe you one." Hotch grinned.

"You owe me several." Emily quipped as they joined the rest of the team and like that, their focus went from their personal lives and back to the job at hand. After all, serial killers didn't stop for their own lives.

**AN: So what did you think of my attempt at Beth-bashing? It's not that I hate her, I just don't think her and Hotch work well together. **


	3. Nightmare

**AN: This one I have had in my head for a few days, hope you enjoy it. Set anytime within series 7**

Emily hurried as quickly as she could through the FBI building, trying to get to the lift to take her up to the BAU floor. She had been at home when Aaron had texted her, telling her to come in. It was just after midnight and she had been almost about to go to bed, 1am was an early night by BAU standards. For the whole drive to the FBI building, Emily couldn't shake off the feeling that something wasn't right. Usually when Aaron texted her, asking to come in, he said that there was a case, where it was and therefore it go-bags were needed or not. This message had none of that. The message hadn't said if there was a case, it simply asked her to come to the BAU as soon as possible.

The ride up in the lift seemed to last a lifetime before finally the doors slid open and Emily walked towards the bullpen. That was her second clue that something was amiss. The bullpen as in darkness and there was total silence. Even when they got called in at two in the morning, there was usually grumpy complaining about having to lose sleep or the sound of the coffee maker as they tried to fill themselves up with caffeine to keep them going. Emily couldn't shake off the bad feeling in her stomach and her hand automatically went for her gun. Something really wasn't right.

"Hotch? JJ?" Emily called as she pushed open the doors. "Hello? Anyone?"

Emily froze as the lights automatically flickered on as she stepped inside and her blood stepped in something wet. Her heart began pounding as she looked at the horrific, stomach-clenching sight before her. She hadn't walked into the bullpen; she had walked into a bloodbath. The liquid she had stepped on was blood, scarily scarlet and vivid under the harsh florescent lights.

The team were scattered and slumped around the bullpen. All of them were dead.

"No!" Emily gasped as she stared at the sight before her as she numbly moved from person to person, her voice becoming a mantra. "No, no no nononono!"

Reid was lying on the floor closest to the door, a bullet hole in the back of his head and a pool of blood around his head. His blood had been what Emily had stepped in. It was obvious that he hadn't seen the shooter coming and had been totally defenceless when he was killed.

A few feet away, Morgan was lying on his back, arms outstretched, his shirt soaked with blood, several bullet wounds in his chest. The way he was standing and the positioning of his body, told Emily had had tried to protect someone, use himself as a human shield.

He had been trying to protect Garcia who lay a foot away from Morgan, her pale face making her vivid make up look almost clown-like in comparison, her newly blonde hair drenched in her own blood. She had been shot execution style, a single bullet between her eyes which had been smeared in her own tear-ruined mascara. Her purple lips were open in shock, she had been afraid.

Emily looked up to see two more bodies. Rossi and JJ.

Rossi was slumped on the steps leading up to the offices; blood was splattered on the wall behind him. There were several bullet wounds in his chest and his gun lay on the other side of the steps from where it had fallen from his hand. He had tried to protect the others but the shooter or shooters were too quick for him.

JJ lay outside her own office, her blonde hair lay fanned around her face and it was soaked in her own blood. Like Rossi, JJ's gun was inches from her hand and she had clearly tried to defend herself. Unlike Rossi, JJ had been shot in the head, right between the eyes as well as her shirt being soaked in her own blood.

Emily felt sick as she looked at her friends, no, family's corpses. Who could have done this? How could they have done it? Why would they have murdered the team in cold blood? How did this happen, she was sure that she had been one of the last to leave. Unless it had been an ambush. They had all been called back but the others had gotten there first. But then, where was Aaron? Emily's fears multiplied as she thought about her best friend. He had been lucky when Foyet had ambushed him in his apartment. Would he have been so lucky this time with fate repeating itself?

"Hotch?" Emily called out again as she pushed open the door to Aaron's office that was lying ajar. The lights from the bullpen cast enough for her to see inside and as she stepped inside, her heart shattered. Emily clutched her hair and shook her head as her hopes of at least one member of her family surviving were destroyed.

Aaron was lying on the floor of his office. Judging by the way his knees where bent, he had been forced to kneel before the killer unlike the others who either put up a fight or had been trying to protect one another. Aaron's death was different to the others in another way; his eyes were the only ones that were open. His dark eyes were frozen, staring at nothing but his jaw was still set and Emily could tell he had died glaring at the killer, staring them out. It felt like his eyes were gazing at _her_ judgementally. Asking her where had she been? Why hadn't she been here on time? Why hadn't she saved them?

Emily fell to her knees and sobbed. Gone. All of them were gone. Her family. Her best friends. Her comfort and support. The people she loved more than anyone else. The people she had always fought and risked her own life to save. Gone. Gone forever. As she sobbed, Emily's blood ran cold as she heard something shift behind her and felt a gun press into the back of her own head as the voice she feared more than any other, spoke words she hoped never to hear again.

"Hello Lauren."

Emily sat bolt upright, her head turning this way and that as she tried to steady her rapid breathing. Emily tried to take deep breaths as she took in her surroundings. She was on the jet and the team were sitting around her. Reid had a comic book on his lap, JJ was curled up in her seat, Rossi was snoring slightly, Morgan had his headphones on. They were sleeping but thankfully alive. They were alive because it hadn't been real. She'd just been having a bad dream. But where was Aaron?

Emily felt someone holding onto her and she looked to see Aaron was sat next to her, a comforting hand was still resting on her shoulder and he looked at her still scared expression, an expression she didn't bother to hide. After everything that had happened, she and Aaron kept no secrets from another. They had always been quite close but after Foyet and Doyle, there was nothing the other didn't know about them and neither of them felt as though they had to hide their real thoughts and emotions behind masks.

"What happened?" Aaron asked gently, knowing that Emily would tell him, even if she wouldn't tell anyone else. He had been about to fall asleep when he heard Emily crying out and began trashing around in her sleep. In an instant he had been at her side and pulled her into his arms. His hold was beginning to help calm her down as he held onto her and let go only when she jerked awake.

Aaron knew she hated having nightmares or letting the team know about her nightmares. He was exactly the same. Emily was the only one who knew that he still had nightmares about Foyet. Nightmares of Foyet killing the team. Nightmares of him killing Jack. Flashbacks of the day Haley died or flashbacks to the night Foyet attacked him. Even though it had been more than two years since Haley's death, the bastard still haunted Aaron's nightmares and the only one he told or suspected he had had one when she seen him the next day was Emily.

"Doyle. He was in the BAU and he'd killed you all." Emily confessed, her heart began pounding at the mere memory of the nightmare and Aaron hugged her tighter.

"Doyle's dead, he can't hurt you or any of us." Aaron replied. It may be stating the obvious but both of them knew that they simply needed that blunt and basic confirmation. That the demons who haunted their nightmares were the ones who were dead and gone, not them or the people they loved.

"I know, but he could have. I know I should have told you all about him but I had to protect you. He wouldn't have just gone after the team, he would have gone further. He'd have gone after Jack, Henry, Will, Diana, anyone who any of us cared about. If it meant playing his power game, there'd be no limits to what he would do. I didn't have anyone but all of you, so I had to go it alone." Emily explained and Aaron nodded, they had talked about this before. Emily always stood by her decision to go after Doyle solo. It was something Aaron could understand. If it ensured the safety of the team and especially Jack, Haley and Emily; he would have hunted down Foyet single-handedly. If it meant protecting the people he loved, there was nothing he would have done to protect them, even if it meant risking or ending his own life.

For a few minutes they sat on the chairs together in silence, Aaron's arms were still around Emily and she was leaning back against his chest. There was nothing romantic or unusual about it, they were so used to comforting one another that things like falling asleep together or hugging one another when the other had a nightmare on the jet was second nature to them.

"Do you think you could sleep? It won't be long until we're back." Aaron asked as Emily nodded.

"I should be able to, it's just," Emily paused as she tried to find the words to sum up how she felt. She knew it was foolish to be scared of Doyle coming back, he was dead and gone and good riddance to him. The knowledge that she and the team were safe didn't stop the nightmares. Nearly every night she had been in Paris, she had had nightmares of Doyle going after the team or tracking her down but ever since she had come back, they had lessened somewhat. The nightmares might never truly go away and the bad days would come and go but things would work themselves out in the end. They had to.

"I know," Aaron replied as he and Emily slowly drifted back to sleep again. That was the thing, he did know exactly what Emily meant and that was all that needed to be said between them. They were both in the same boat and with the help and support of the other as well as from the team, they would make it through.


	4. Parental Roles - Reid

**AN: Does anyone else think that in the BAU family, Hotch and Emily are the parents? The way I see it, they're the parents, Morgan's the protective eldest brother, JJ's the sweet, supportive sister, Garcia's the sneaky troublemaker, Reid's the baby and Rossi's the cool uncle who lets them get away with murder. **

"We're so dead." JJ muttered as she considered the mess they had wound up in. They were all going to be in so much trouble.

"Not yet and we won't be if we can sort him out before Mom and Dad catch us." Morgan hissed to JJ and Rossi who was mentally preparing his will. He had to agree with JJ, they were about to meet their maker. Funny, he always thought he'd die at the hands of an unsub, or at least one of his ex-wives. Not tonight and not like this. The two agents helped Morgan support the source of their imminent demise out of the cab and into the hotel.

The cause of their highly likely imminent deaths? A very, very intoxicated Spencer Reid.

"Mom and Dad?" Rossi repeated; a tone of amusement in his voice as he hoisted one of Reid's limp arms over his shoulders. Morgan shrugged his shoulders and considered the situation at hand. They needed to get Reid back to the motel and sobered up. They were in Atlanta, hunting down an unsub who was targeting working class men in their 30s and stabbing them. Hotch and Emily had stayed at the precinct, believing they were close to cracking the case whilst the rest of them had left under the guise of getting an early night.

However if Hotch and Emily found out that instead of catching an early night, the team had gone to a bar without them and got Reid so drunk that he passed out, well then the Unsub would be the least of their worries.

"I knew this had been a bad idea." JJ said worriedly, looking at Reid who had had to be carried by Morgan and Rossi; the three of them weren't entirely sober but unlike Reid they had been able to hold their alcohol.

"You weren't saying that when you were buying him tequila." Rossi reminded and JJ glared at him.

"I wasn't the one who tried asking the bartender if they had freaking absinthe!" JJ retorted and Morgan looked at them.

"Hey, we'll argue about this later. Right now we need a plan. Rossi and I will get Reid up to his room and try and sort him out. JJ you keep watch and if Hotch or Emily come, distract them." Morgan ordered. JJ nodded and the four of them managed to get into the lift. The jolting of the lift woke Reid up and he stared around in a daze.

"I don't feel good," Reid mumbled his face pale and with a slight green tinge as the lift took them up to their floor.

"Don't puke on us kid," Morgan warned.

"Alright, considering Hotch texted half an hour ago saying he and Emily went to get food before coming back to the hotel, I would say we should have enough time to get Reid to bed before they come back." Rossi said as he checked his watch.

"Not tired," Reid mumbled, his eyes shut tight as he swayed slightly despite the support Morgan and Rossi were giving him.

"Spence you're totally wasted so we need to get you to bed before Hotch and Em realise we skived off to go drinking." JJ explained as the toneless lift voice announced they were on the sixth floor and the doors slid open.

The four of them made their way out of the lift and turned to walk to their rooms. The initial coast was clear and they hoped they could get away with this. JJ led the way but she only got a few steps before she froze. Morgan, Rossi and Reid walked into her and the four of them stumbled slightly before staring at the sight before them. The corridor was blocked by Hotch and Emily standing side by side, arms folded across their chests and looking at the team sternly. Their double-act thing was really quite scary sometimes.

"Uh oh," Morgan muttered.

"We're dead." Rossi murmured.

"This was their idea; I had no part in it!" JJ insisted, jumping aside and pointing at Morgan and Rossi. There was no way she was going down with Rossi and Morgan; this was a life or death situation and therefore a case of every woman for herself.

"What happened?" Hotch asked, like he and Emily even needed to know. After getting a drunken phone call off Reid which consisted of him babbling random nonsense about squirrels and attempting to loudly sing _Call Me Maybe_, it hadn't been hard to work out that the others had gone to the bar instead of back to the hotel. Not that it mattered really, except it was a rule that there was no drinking until the case was solved and given that Reid was completely drunk, the likelihood was that the others weren't sober either.

Before any of them could answer, Reid promptly threw up over the floor as well as over Emily's shoes. Morgan and Rossi instinctively let go of Reid, not wanting to get vomited over. Reid moaned as his stomach churned again and he did his best not to throw up a second, no, third time. He had already been sick in the bar before they left. Hotch and Emily exchanged a glance before Emily nodded and took Reid away from Morgan and Rossi and helped him into his hotel room. Hotch looked at the other three and with a look, told them to come with him into his room.

As the three agents stood awkwardly in Hotch's hotel room, he looked at JJ, who was most likely to tell the full and true story. "Explain," Hotch said.

"Well, it was Morgan's idea," JJ began, wondering what the likelihood of her seeing Will and Henry again after this would be. Considering they had skived off work to go drinking, got back late and got caught by their boss and add in the fact that one of their teammates was so drunk he threw up on another agent and had to be put to bed and would undoubtedly be too hungover to work tomorrow…

JJ really ought to have said a better goodbye to Will and Henry.

"Wasn't my idea," Morgan denied but fell silent as Hotch glared at him. Yep, Hotch was definitely into Stern Parent Mode with a very heavy dose of Extremely Pissed-Off Boss added into the mix. Rossi glanced at Morgan and understood what he had meant by the 'Mom and Dad' term now. He felt as though he was sixteen again and being told off for sneaking out.

Now that was a scary thought.

"Bleurgh," Reid groaned as he retched and heaved the contents of his stomach into the toilet yet again. Emily removed her shoes from under the tap and set them on the floor before crouching beside Reid and began rubbing his back. It wasn't the first time she'd done this and definitely wouldn't be the last.

"I know Reid; just get it up and out of your system." Emily said, rubbing circles on his back as Reid coughed a few times but nothing else happened.

"I think it's gone," Reid said thickly as he raised his head and Emily flushed the toilet, avoiding looking into the bowl.

"Reid, what have me and Hotch told you about doing shots with Morgan?" Emily asked as she helped Reid to his feet and put his arm around her shoulder again in order to help him to the bed.

"Not to, but he said I couldn't do it." Reid argued childishly and Emily smiled slightly as she pulled back the duvet and set the bin by Reid's pillow. No matter what the situation was, once Morgan or Reid was challenged that they couldn't do something; both would do whatever it took to prove they could. Normally the results were funny and consisted of random dares or stupid stunts but this situation was no laughing matter. She often wondered whether her two teammates were FBI agents or pre-schoolers.

"You still didn't have to do it. You're going to be in serious pain in the morning and we need that genius brain working the case, not dealing with a hangover." Emily reminded as she set a cup of water by his bed and lightly tapped Reid's head.

"Sorry," Reid mumbled, already half asleep and Emily smiled and ruffled his hair slightly. She couldn't stay mad at him and they all knew it. Reid just had that charm about him.

"Just don't do it again. Goodnight Reid." Emily said as she turned the light off and left the room. Reid was already asleep by the time she had shut the door.

"_One kid down, three to go,"_ Emily thought to herself as she let herself into Hotch's room. Morgan, JJ and Rossi were looking thoroughly chastened and Hotch still looked annoyed as hell at them. Indeed she felt her own annoyance, rise as she looked at them. On a tangent, Emily wondered if this was how she had made her mother feel every time she had sneaked off with her friends to go clubbing. No wonder Elizabeth Prentiss had always tore her a new one every time she got busted sneaking back in or tried sleeping off a hangover.

"Reid's asleep and I hope you three are happy. With Reid being hungover tomorrow, it'll slow down our attempts to correctly analyse and profile our unsub and possibly slow the entire investigation down." Emily reminded as JJ looked at Rossi and Morgan worriedly; they really hadn't thought any of this through. Besides the ear-bashing they'd all gotten off Hotch was bad enough but when Hotch and Emily pulled this parent/good-cop-bad-cop routine on them Emily was usually on their side. This wasn't good.

"Look we weren't thinking, we know that and we're sorry. We can put this right." Morgan said defensively. Yes they screwed up big time, but bawling them out like a bunch of teenagers wouldn't solve that.

"You better. You'll be lucky if Strauss doesn't find out about this. You know how close she is to swinging the axe at all of us and if she found out any of us were drinking on the job, we're all going to get it." Hotch said. He didn't expect to ever have this conversation with his team, the sort of conversation he could picture himself having with Jack in about ten or fifteen years' time. He could only hope his son would take after him. If Jack turned out to be anything like Sean; that would be a whole other nightmare.

"You're grounded, all four of you will be doing the write-ups for a month and don't think of arguing with me Rossi," Emily said, looking at Rossi who was clearly about to say something. "It's gone midnight, I've had three hours sleep since the case began and Reid threw up on my favourite shoes so do not push me."

"Emily's right, now go on. We have to be at the station at eight tomorrow so go get some sleep and pray Reid's not too hungover." Hotch said. As they exchanged looks, JJ, Rossi and Morgan filed out of Hotch's room and into the corridor.

"Told you they're like our parents." Morgan said, prompting Rossi to slap him upside the head and JJ to roll her eyes.

"We are never doing that again." JJ commented as the three of them disappeared into their own rooms, grateful to get some sleep and hopefully attempt to avoid the inevitable consequences of their actions.

Hotch and Emily both took deep breathes before they crossed the room and sat down. Hotch on the bed and Emily on the room's armchair and the two agents looked at one another, thinking about the nights events. The team had acted like a bunch of teenagers, sneaking out to a bar, getting drunk and trying to sneak back in without getting caught. If it hadn't been so serious, it would have been quite funny.

"I swear, I feel like their mother sometimes." Emily commented with a shake of her head.

"Tell me about it, how is Reid?" Hotch asked, rubbing his eyes.

"Sleeping it off. He'll be as sick as a dog in the morning but hopefully it'll teach him not to do it again." Emily replied and looked at Hotch an expression of concern on her face. "Do you think we were too hard on them?"

"Not at all, it's the only way they'll learn." Hotch replied knowingly, he was used to having to be stern in order to teach a lesson. He'd done it gently with Jack and several times with Sean both as a teenager and adult.

"Guess you're right." Emily replied before looking at Hotch, a wry smile on her face. "I gotta ask, when did we become the parents of this dysfunctional BAU family?"

Hotch thought for a moment before smiling and shrugging his shoulders. "Honestly I have no idea."

"Me either," Emily commented before getting to her feet and crossing the room. "Night Dad."

"Night Mom," Hotch joked as Emily left the room.

**AN: The next few chapters will be Hotch and Emily taking on various parental roles to the team and of course Jack, feel free to post ideas and thanks for reading, reviewing and supporting this so far. **


	5. Parental Roles - JJ and Will

**AN: I love the scene in 4x07 when JJ goes into labour and the fact that Hotch and Emily take a sort of parental role when they're taking her to the hospital. Hope you like it and if you have any prompts, please feel free to offer them.**

"Feeling human again yet?" Aaron commented, making no attempt to hide his grin as he found Emily at the coffee machine.

"Getting there, I swear I am never drinking again." Emily vowed as she pulled a second cup out for Aaron and began filling it.

"Of course you aren't." Aaron retorted and Emily looked at him sceptically. They were close friends and she was one of the rare few who seen him smile these days but that wasn't a friendly smile. That was the smile of a teasing best friend.

"What are you smiling at?" Emily asked bluntly and Aaron laughed.

"Just thinking about when I worked security detail for your mother and I found you trying to sneak into the house at 8am, still drunk and in your clothes from the night before." Aaron said, his grin widening as Emily burned red at the memory.

"That was bad." Emily said, shaking her head at the memory of her mother screaming at her and having to be supported by Aaron to remain standing.

It had been during her first summer home from Yale. Emily's old friends from high school had made arrangements to have a reunion party. Emily had had to sneak out of the house, intending to be home around 2am. However they had been drinking, hanging out and simply having so much fun being together that the next thing any of them knew, it was 7 in the morning. Emily had somehow managed to walk across town home and had sneaked in through the back gates before she had been caught by Aaron. Aaron had helped her inside with the intention of putting her to bed to sleep it off but Elizabeth caught Aaron half supporting, half carrying the drunken Emily and bawled her out there and then. Even though she'd been barely able to walk or even stand, she had had to endure a rant from her mother about her behaviour and sneaking out to go partying with her friends from high school.

"Your mother was going insane. She had us all running around, there were people driving around town looking for you and us checking everywhere. I remember thinking if we couldn't find you, she would become an unsub herself. Anyway I distinctly remember you saying then that you would never drink again." Aaron commented and Emily shrugged her shoulders.

"That was just to shut her up. I also told one of my high school friends that if he wasn't gay then I would have married him." Emily replied and Aaron shook his head, smiling.

"You know what they say, drunken mouths speak sober thoughts." Aaron said and Emily shook her head and took a sip of her coffee.

"I say a lot of things, doesn't mean they're true." Emily said and looked around the quiet bullpen. "Quiet without Morgan and Reid here. Could almost get used to it."

"A quiet day in the BAU? Never going to happen." Aaron replied knowingly. It was simply the way they BAU was. None of them liked silence, even on down days when they were doing paperwork or not allowed to work cases; they were still usually up to something. Whether it was joking around, gossiping, swapping random stories or even on occasion pulling a few practical jokes. There was usually almost always something happening.

"There's a first time for everything." Emily countered as they heard hurried footsteps and Garcia's voice called loudly as she led JJ into the bullpen, Jordan following behind looking concerned.

"Ladies and gentlemen I'm not a doctor, I don't even play one on TV but I believe young JJ has gone into labour." Garcia announced.

Emily and Aaron immediately jumped into action. Emily hurried to JJ's side. "Are you alright?"

"I'll get the car," Aaron said and hurried out of the room. They had talked about this, knowing the likelihood of JJ going into labour whilst at the BAU or on the case. As the case was, she had gone into labour at the BAU and they all knew what to do. Aaron or whoever was on hand was to go with JJ to the hospital and ensure she was alright.

"I gotta call Will," JJ said as Emily and Garcia helped her along.

"From the car," Garcia replied and Emily nodded.

"Just breathe and walk," Emily advised. "Agent Todd, I hope you're ready because your job starts right now."

As they made their way outside, Aaron was waiting with the car. Emily and Garcia helped JJ get in and as they did, JJ winced as another contraction hit. However she dismissed their looks of concern and instead reached for her phone and called Will who was working. They could hear Will's concerned tone as he obviously stopped everything he was doing in order to meet them at the hospital. JJ had to admit, despite the pain she was feeling, she was relieved that none of them were freaking out. She couldn't handle it if someone would freak out around her, especially when her own emotions were in overdrive. Not that she expected either Hotch or Emily to freak, with Garcia a little excitement or panic was expected and thankfully they weren't telling her stupid things like to remain calm or breathe. Right now JJ needed people who were calm and in control and she was beyond grateful that Hotch and Emily were there; it was almost like having her own parents with her.

"Ready?" Emily asked as they arrived at the hospital. Aaron had gone to fetch some doctors and Emily and Garcia helped JJ get out of the car. JJ had had another contraction in the car and she was convinced they were getting closer.

"JJ!" Will called as he got out of his squad car and hurried over, quickly embracing JJ as they made their way into the hospital and Aaron came over with a wheelchair and accompanied by some doctors.

"Ok Miss Jareau, we're just going to get you ready and your baby will be here in no time." One of the doctors, whose name badge named her as Dr Jacobs said as JJ was helped into the wheelchair. JJ looked around anxiously, not wanting to be left alone but Emily squeezed her hand and Will hugged her tightly.

"I'll be in with you as soon as I can Chére," Will promised as he kissed JJ and Emily smiled reassuringly at her.

"You'll be fine, you're in the best hands and we're all going to be here." Emily promised as JJ was wheeled off to be changed and prepared for the delivery.

One of the doctors collared a passing nurse who showed them to the maternity unit's waiting room. As soon as they were in the room, Garcia called Morgan to tell Reid and Rossi that JJ was in the hospital and Will quickly rang both his and JJ's mothers before he anxiously began pacing around the room in a panic. Emily and Aaron looked at one another before Aaron walked over to Will and guided him to a seat.

"I understand how you feel," Aaron said without preamble. "So believe me when I say that you need to pull yourself together. Right now, JJ and the baby need you to be calm and speaking from experience, freaking out will not help anyone."

"You freaked out when Jack was born?" Will asked Aaron who nodded, recalling the day Jack was born. To say he had been scared was an absolute understatement. He had never been more terrified in all his life and recalled how a doctor offered to give him something to calm his own nerves. He had refused but it had caused Haley to laugh and lessened her own fears slightly.

"I'd be surprised if any man didn't." Aaron replied honestly as Will took a few breaths and the same nurse returned to the room.

"Jennifer's in the delivery room, which one of you is Will?" the nurse asked.

"That's me," Will replied.

"She's asking for you." The nurse said and Emily and Garcia offered him reassuring smiles.

"Good luck Will," Emily said, giving him a quick hug. "We'll be waiting."

"Thanks," Will replied before looking at Aaron. "Any more advice?"

"Take all the abuse without question and prepare to have your fingers broken." Aaron joked and Will smiled before following the nurse to the delivery room. The three of them looked at one another, not wanting to leave the hospital until JJ had her baby and they knew everything was fine.

"And now we wait." Emily said, sitting on one of the hard plastic chairs.

"And now we wait." Aaron agreed before he thought of something. "Now that I think about it, JJ did look like she was in pain earlier."

"When?" Garcia asked.

"When we got off the plane," Aaron replied. "So around half two?"

"The landing could have prompted the labour," Emily reasoned. "You're not supposed to fly at eight months right?"

"Unless you're JJ." Garcia joked. "So wait, it's now nearly five. So she's been in labour for nearly three hours?"

"Probably," Emily said with a small smile. "You know JJ, if she had her way we probably wouldn't have known she was giving birth until the baby was actually born."

"Yeah, she's crazy sometimes." Garcia said and they lapsed into silence for a while before Aaron broke it, a smile on his face.

"I remember when Haley went into labour, just as we were leaving for the hospital Gideon rang me with a case. I didn't even get to speak, Haley just grabbed the phone said and I quote _'I'm about to give birth, if you try and take Aaron halfway across the country now I'll be a killer myself'_ then hung up, smiled at me and we left." Aaron recalled, Emily and Garcia laughed and Garcia nodded.

"I remember that, Gideon actually looked scared when Haley said that." Garcia reminisced. Emily smiled slightly, keeping the thoughts of what happened when she was fifteen safely locked up in their box and instead kept the focus on Aaron and she smirked at her best friend.

"So you freaked out did you?" Emily asked with a teasing tone in her voice.

"I was honestly terrified. It was a total loss of control because Haley was in agony and there was nothing I could do about it. I remember trying to focus on being with her and that the doctors knew what they were doing but I was going nuts. Didn't know what to say or do and Haley switched between laughing at me and giving me abuse for getting her pregnant in the first place. I got more death threats off her in those seven hours than I had throughout my whole career." Aaron recalled. He would readily admit that the only time he'd been truly scared was the day he became a father and he still remembered every name Haley had called him and every threat to either maim or kill him but when Jack was born and they fell in love with their baby, it had all been forgotten.

"I can imagine," Emily said with a wry smile and for a while longer they talked about Jack's birth and wondered aloud how JJ was getting on. Every so often a nurse gave them updates which they passed on to the others and Aaron had called Strauss to inform her of the situation and explain why half the team had pulled a disappearing act. A mother herself, Strauss understood the situation and even asked him to pass on her best wishes to JJ.

"So she can be human." Emily commented as Aaron hung up on Strauss.

"Apparently so," Aaron replied as the three of them remained in the waiting room. None of them wanted to go home; Garcia left to get them some food and when tiredness kicked in, they decided to sleep in shifts, agreeing to wake the others up if there were any news. Finally at around quarter past seven in the morning, Emily was pacing around the room to keep herself awake when she heard someone hurrying towards them. Emily quickly shook Garcia and Aaron awake as Will hurried into the room. He looked exhausted but there was a broad grin on his face as he looked at them.

"It's a boy!" Will announced. Garcia shrieked in delight and embraced Will. Emily and Aaron grinned and congratulated Will before Emily hugged him and Aaron shook his hand. "JJ wants you to come and meet the little guy."

Will led them into the room JJ had been moved to in order to recover. JJ was sitting up in bed looking exhausted but with a broad grin on her face as she held her tiny baby in her arms as though unsure whether he was real. As Emily, Aaron and Garcia entered the room, she beamed at them as she turned the sleeping baby slightly in order to let them all see him.

"Meet Henry," JJ said with a grin. Will tenderly took Henry from her in order to let them hug JJ. As Will handed Henry to an excited Garcia, JJ smiled at Aaron and Emily.

"You didn't have to stay," JJ said and Emily hugged her again.

"Where else would we have been?" Emily asked and JJ laid back on her pillows.

"I don't know but seriously, thanks. You guys were incredible, helping me get here and stopping Will from going nuts. Seriously we couldn't have done it without you guys." JJ said; she meant it. Even knowing that at least Hotch and Emily would be there and refuse to leave had been an unbelievable source of comfort. They had all joked how Hotch and Emily were the parents to the team but for JJ and Will, that was proven today.

"It was nothing," Aaron replied but JJ shook her head.

"I mean it, thank you, from all three of us." JJ smiled as Garcia passed Henry to Emily before slipping out of the room to call Morgan and tell him the good news. Emily held the tiny new born in her arms, taking time to take in the sight of her nephew.

"He's gorgeous JJ," Emily gushed as Henry gurgled slightly in his sleep. Emily held him for a few minutes longer before passing him to Aaron who held him with careful expertise and he smiled at the sleeping baby.

"He is," Aaron agreed as Emily looked over his shoulder again, unable to stop staring at Henry.

"I want one," Emily commented, the feeling of broodiness unexpectedly creeping over her.

"So have one then," Garcia joked as she re-entered the room and Emily shook her head.

"I still stand by what I said earlier," Emily said, smiling at JJ and Garcia's grins as they all considered her donor wisecrack. However as she, Garcia and Aaron left JJ and Will to bond with Henry as well as get some long overdue rest; Emily looked at Aaron and as she considered her best friend, Emily recklessly allowed her imagination to wonder.

_What if…_


	6. Just Friends

**AN: So this is going to slip a bit more into the romance side of things but hey. That's what we're shipping them for. Hope you like it and credit to Laila S for the prompt.**

"There's definitely something going on there." Morgan said, lightly inkling his head towards the small kitchenette where the coffee maker was stored. Aaron and Emily were standing chatting and seemingly oblivious to the curious/nosy stares from Morgan, JJ, Reid and Rossi.

"Yes, they're getting coffee." Reid answered in a cheeky tone prompting Morgan to thump him on the shoulder.

"I'm telling you, there's definitely a little something there." Morgan commented as Rossi considered them thoughtfully. Ever since Aaron and Haley divorced, Aaron and Emily seemed to be getting closer but knowing that neither would willingly be used or want to use the other as a rebound; whether they were in a relationship or not was up to debate.

"I don't think they are. Given that Strauss is looking for any and every excuse to get rid of them both, they wouldn't risk their careers like that. Not after all they've been through already to keep us all together." JJ reasoned. Besides Emily had been complaining about her single status, something she wouldn't be doing if she and Hotch were getting it on.

"JJ's right. I'd say they are just friends." Rossi said and Morgan smirked at them.

"Yeah but are they friends with or without benefits?" Morgan asked cheekily.

"Who's this you're talking about?" Emily asked, the team had been so busy gossiping and debating that they hadn't noticed Emily walk over to them or Aaron walk back up to his office. The others looked around, reliant on their quick-thinking to get themselves out of trouble before Morgan dismissed it carelessly.

"Just someone you don't know." Morgan denied, Emily raised an eyebrow but sat down at her desk.

"Ok I won't ask then." Emily replied as they all returned to work. She could feel Morgan looking at her suspiciously and Reid sneaking one or two glances but she ignored them in favour of wanting to get her paperwork done and home at a reasonable hour tonight.

Emily looked at the paper before her, attempting to read it but not focusing on the words. Instead she was thinking about herself and Aaron. They had built up a good friendship since she had joined the BAU, a friendship which had been tested to its limit when Strauss had attempted to use her to get Aaron fired. The fact that she had quit the BAU and he ensured that she proved her worth of the team to Strauss had triggered a change in their friendship. Instead of damaging the trust between them, it had strengthened it. This strength came the night the case ended and Aaron came to her apartment with the news that Haley had taken Jack and left. The night had been one of bonding and talking; unable to sleep due to the ineffective painkillers and the shock of losing his wife and son meant that the pair of them had willingly sat up; talking, listening and helping one another.

After that everything was different. The two of them talked more, confided in one another, on occasion they even managed to joke around and when they were working, it was almost like they could read each other's minds when profiling the latest monster who was pushing their luck against the BAU. However the closer they became friends, the more her thoughts began slipping into dangerous territory. Very dangerous territory.

Emily shook her head and continued working, pointedly ignoring the suspicious/amused looks being sent her way by Reid and Morgan and determinedly keeping her eyes away from Aaron's office. They were just friends. That was it. Nothing more and nothing less.

Just friends.

Aaron sighed as he hung up the phone. Things were still awkward between him and Haley, they were civil to one another and there was still a sort of affection there between them. Obviously it wasn't the same as what it was before otherwise they would still have been married but it didn't make the divorce any easier. Maybe it would have been easier if they completely hated one another but despite everything that had happened or could have happened, neither Aaron nor Haley could ever hate one another. They both knew that much at least. As Aaron attempted to return his focus to his work, he couldn't help but glance down into the bullpen at Emily.

They hadn't had the best start but once they had worked one case together, a powerful friendship began to grow between them. There was just a natural sense of trust and understanding between both of them and over time, different things put that friendship to the test and every time, they emerged as stronger and better friends because of it. It had been Emily who he turned to first when Haley left and who had stopped him drowning his sorrows the night he signed the divorce papers. She listened to him, talked to him, supported him and helped him to learn to smile again. There was where his problem lay.

Emily was one of the best friends he had ever had but recently, he had begun to feel differently about her. He always knew she was an attractive woman, now he saw her as beautiful. Her courage, determination, loyalty, kindness and good heart were all things he admired in her as a friend but now he was seeing them in a different way, a way that was stronger, more passionate and most importantly forbidden. Once in a while, his imagination wandered into dangerous territory. Into a place where they didn't care about the rules and he got to have the forbidden fruit that was Emily Prentiss. Aaron usually did his best to compress those feelings. It was unprofessional, it was clichéd in the extreme, it was against all the rules, it could destroy his and Emily's friendship- something which Aaron could never risk.

Aaron shook his head sharply and turned his focus back to his ever growing pile of work. He was being stupid. This was Emily for crying out loud! She was his best friend. The key word being 'friend'. There was nothing between himself and Emily. They were just friends.

Right?

Right.

Over the next few weeks, despite dismissing Morgan's theory about Aaron and Emily being more than friends, each member of the team couldn't help but notice little habits the two had picked up around each other. the increasing number of times they paired up when on a case, the fact they were spending a lot more time together when not on the job, how they had even picked up the knack of finishing each other's' sentences and the acuteness they had to one another's feelings. It was Emily who could tell if Aaron had had another pointless ear-bashing from Strauss and it was Aaron who knew, just by looking at her, that Emily had been more affected by certain cases than she let on. Even though there was no definitive proof of anything happening between the two, the suspicion remained.

"Couldn't we just ask them?" Reid suggested after they finished yet another debate on whether or not Aaron and Emily were together.

"Do you have a death wish?" Rossi asked the young genius who quickly shook his head.

"Maybe we should just stay out of this. If they're together then they're together, if not then no big deal. It's their love lives, not ours." JJ replied guiltily as she considered her own secret relationship with Will, it was a part of her unconnected to the BAU, where she wasn't an FBI agent, she was simply JJ and Will loved her for that. She sometimes considered telling the team but she wasn't ready to do that just yet.

"I guess you're right. Besides Emily can't keep a secret to save her life." Garcia commented. Emily had been commenting on her single status and inability to as she called it 'find one guy who's not a jerk' therefore if she was seeing someone, even if it was Aaron then she would have said so.

"That's not exactly true, Emily's not one to open up." Rossi said, out of all of them, he knew the least about Emily. Whether that was because of her own choosing, he wasn't sure.

"Maybe we should just out and out ask them. It would sort this whole thing out once and for all." Morgan commented, looking around at the others. "I mean we can sit and speculate all we want but we won't know anything unless we find Hotch and Emily and ask what the hell is going on."

"That's funny,"

"Because we were about to ask you the same thing."

The team turned to see Aaron and Emily watching them. Both of them were standing with their arms folded across their chests and looking at them curiously and expectantly, awaiting an answer. The team looked at one another before Rossi sighed slightly and seemed to steel himself. He couldn't believe he was actually going to do this.

"Alright I'll do it. What is going on between the two of you? Are you together or not?" Rossi asked bluntly, deciding it was better to simply get it over and done with. Emily and Aaron looked at one another, before Emily laughed and Aaron shook his head with a smile.

"Me and Hotch?" Emily laughed. "What is this high school? You do realise that a guy and a girl can be best friends right?"

"Exactly, besides it's unprofessional and Strauss is looking for enough reasons to get rid of both of us without us giving her another one. Obviously we wouldn't risk the team like that." Aaron denied looking at the team.

"Told you so," JJ muttered under her breath, quickly staring at the floor as both Aaron and Emily stared her out.

"Seriously guys, the reason we spend so much time together is because we're best friends who happen to work together. Besides all of you spend all your time together, we don't go about speculating any of you guys are dating." Emily said and Aaron nodded.

"Even if you were, we wouldn't push it because we mind our own business," Aaron added.

"So it would be nice if you guys did the same. If there was something you needed to know then we'd tell you." Emily continued, noting how Morgan and Reid shared a slightly unnerved look. She and Aaron were so close and in tune with one another that they had subconsciously began ending each other's sentences. After being told as much by Morgan and Reid, she had to admit it could come across as creepy but it shows how close their friendship was and how well the two knew one another.

"But there's not so I suggest you get back to work." Aaron finished. The team shared a look before quickly and quietly returning back to their desks and continuing their work. Aaron and Emily waited until they were out of sight and earshot before they looked at one another, shook their heads and returned to work.

"Really, us dating? Do they really have nothing else to talk about?" Aaron asked, leaning against the wall casually, a rare occurrence especially when they were working.

"Tell me about it. Like that would ever happen anyway." Emily dismissed in a casual tone. Too casual. Aaron looked at his best friend who attempted to hold his gaze, careful to keep her mask in place after she almost let it slip.

"You think so?" Aaron asked in a softer tone of voice and Emily shrugged her shoulders.

"Like you said, we work together, Strauss is always on our ass and it's unprofessional. Besides it could ruin our friendship, things change when you start dating and what if it didn't work out? How would that impact on the team?" Emily questioned before she looked around. "Anyway we should be getting back to work."

"Wait," Aaron said, grabbing her hand. The two of them looked at their joined hands before looking at one another. "I think we owe it to ourselves to at least try. If it doesn't work out, then it doesn't work out but I really hope it does. I do care a lot about you Emily."

"I do care about you too, that's why I don't want either of us to be hurt, especially you." Emily reasoned, in the past year she had watched and helped Aaron as his marriage completely fell apart. She couldn't and wouldn't be the next person to break his heart. Even if that meant breaking her own.

"If we're lucky then nobody will get hurt," Aaron reasoned before smiling at her. "Besides I remember a certain someone once telling me that 'life is nothing without a few risks' when I saw her climbing out of her second storey bedroom window in order to go to a party."

Emily grinned at that particular memory before she looked at Aaron. She saw the kindness, the affection for her and hope and like that, she was sold. Aaron was right, they were best friends already and if anything that would lead to a stronger relationship because they knew about each other so well and cared so much about one another. Indeed she could almost hear her twenty year old self screaming for her to go for it.

"Ok," Emily agreed and Aaron suddenly leant down a kissed her cheek. "One condition though, we don't treat each other differently, at least when the others are around."

"Of course," Aaron replied and both of them smiling, returned back to work.

A few weeks later and the team's suspicions about Aaron and Emily being more than 'just friends' had been abandoned and forgotten. There were no more possible signs to imply that the two of them were dating and one evening after everyone had left, Rossi he signed off the last of his paperwork before getting up and leaving his office for the night. As he walked past Aaron's office, he stopped before he turned and looked back through the glass. A smirk spread across his face at the sight of Aaron and Emily kissing one another in the supposed privacy of the 'empty' BAU bullpen.

"Just friends my ass." Rossi muttered as he continued on his way out of the bullpen. Once he was in the lift, he pulled out his cell and prepared to make a few calls…


	7. Surprise

**AN: Ok whilst I don't know what is happening in 200, nor do I want to know until I've seen it for myself, but I can guess enough to know that shit will go down. Obviously I know Emily is back for it and this is a light look at how Emily could come back at any time after series 8. Enjoy.**

As Emily walked through the crowded departure gates at Heathrow Airport, she felt her excitement increase as she looked at the screen, waiting for the flight gates for her flight to Washington DC to come up. It had been a long time since she'd gone back to the States and she couldn't wait to go back and see her family. Not her mother, though she would probably visit her at some point, but her real family. The team. She was excited to see her sisters, her brothers, her father figure, the newest addition to the family and of course her best friend. Emily had missed them all like crazy but didn't regret leaving the BAU at all. She needed to get away, have a full fresh start and working for Interpol and living in London had done that. It was like a weight had been lifted from her and it meant she could breathe again.

As the boarding gate was announced, Emily followed the rest of the passengers towards the gate and as she stood in line, she sent a text message to the only person who knew she was coming home. They had arranged it after the team had endured one staggering loss after another and knew that the sight of a returning family member would help with the loss of another one of their own. Part of her still couldn't believe Erin was dead. There was a time when that news would have prompted her, and the whole team to dance around the FBI building singing '_Ding Dong the Witch is Dead'_ at the top of the lungs. But times change and people change and somehow Erin became just as much one of their BAU family as the rest of them and they felt the loss just as strongly. Even Emily had come to really like and respect the woman she once hated as much as any unsub.

Emily shook those thoughts from her head as she boarded the plane and looked out the window. She couldn't stop smiling as she buckled her seatbelt and listened to the safety announcements that she'd head millions of times before on flights too numerous to count. She was going home.

She was actually going home!

Aaron smiled to himself as his phone buzzed with a text message. It was still early in the morning and he had to get Jack to school yet. He had about 8 hours until he had to go to the airport and if they timed it right, it would mean that they would be able to surprise the team just before the end of the working day. He was the only one who knew about Emily coming home to see them. They had talked about letting the others know but agreed it would be better to surprise them all instead. The past few months after Erin's death and their final stand against The Replicator had been difficult on all of them and they both knew this was the sort of thing the team needed to lift their spirits.

It was a quiet day in the BAU, after having three cases in a row without stopping, they had been given a week on stand down to allow them some form of rest and catch up on their ever-growing paperwork. Aaron glanced down at the team, watching them talk, work and in Morgan and Reid's case throw a few paper wads at each other. Alex was laughing and occasionally tossing one herself, a few times JJ emerged from her office to talk but he only seen Dave once and that was when he came in. However given that Dave was still grieving for Erin, as well as her death triggering memories of losing Carolyn, it was understandable that he didn't feel too sociable.

Just after half past three, Aaron emerged from his office and left the bullpen without telling any of the others where he was going. Derek looked suspiciously at Reid and Alex. That wasn't like Hotch to do a disappearing act and he said as much to the team. However whilst he was suspicious, Alex and Reid didn't bother making too much of a fuss.

"Maybe he's just lifting Jack from school." Alex suggested.

"Is it really any of our business?" Reid asked without looking up from his work. Derek frowned before admitting defeat.

"Guess not." Derek reasoned as he took a piece of printer paper and folded it carefully into a paper plane. "Hey Reid, think fast!"

Aaron stood in the Arrivals lounge, the screen placed on the wall said the flight from London had landed which meant that Emily would be making her way through any moment now. Beside him, Jack was rocking slightly on the heels of his trainers and looking around him expectantly.

"See her yet Daddy?" Jack asked. He had only been told that Emily was coming back when Aaron had lifted him from school. Jack was curious to know why he wasn't going to Jess's the way he usually did and Aaron had explained en route to the airport that Emily had come home as a surprise. This both pleased and excited Jack who had missed Emily just as much as Aaron did. They talked on the phone, exchanged emails and had the occasional Skype call when they were able to due to work commitments and the time difference between DC and London but the almost-eight year old still missed her greatly.

"I think that's her Jack," Aaron said as the doors opened and a stream of people walked through, seeking loved ones and pulling suitcases behind them. Amongst the first few people through the doors was Emily who spotted Aaron and Jack and hurried over to them, grinning as Jack charged at her and flung his arms around her. Emily let go of her suitcase and hugged Jack tightly before he let go and Emily hugged Aaron tightly.

"I missed you!" Emily said as they hugged before stepping back and taking her suitcase. "Do they know I'm back?"

"Do you think any of them, especially Garcia wouldn't be here if they knew?" Aaron asked and Emily laughed as the three of them made their way out of the airport and into Aaron's car.

"So how are we going to surprise them? Call them into the conference room?" Emily asked as they drove back towards the FBI building. They hadn't really given much thought to the actual surprising of the team, more so getting Emily home and how it would cheer the team up to see her.

"Maybe it would easier to just do it in the bullpen." Aaron reasoned, everyone would be there but it would also mean somehow luring Dave out of his office too. There were days when he'd only leave his office if they were in the conference room to discuss a case and it seemed like today could have been one of those days.

"Can I do it Daddy?" Jack asked and his innocent question gave them their answer. They knew how they were going to surprise the team.

"Hey have any of you guys seen Hotch?" JJ asked as she leant over the railings to talk to the others who looked up from the work they had resigned themselves to doing. Garcia had also emerged from her lair to talk to the team, the lack of cases giving her little work to do and a chance to spend time with the rest of the team.

"Haven't seen him all day." Dave replied and Alex looked towards the doors.

"There he is now, told you he was going to get Jack." Alex said as Aaron and Jack walked into the bullpen. However they could see straight away something was up. Jack looked extremely pleased about something and Aaron was fighting a smile too.

"What's got you so cheerful?" Dave asked, genuinely curious to find out what was causing Aaron and Jack to be grinning as though all their Christmases had come at once.

"We gotta surprise!" Jack announced and the team smiled at the young boy, curious but also willing to play along with the boy's excitement and happiness. Whatever this surprise was it had certainly made the Hotchner men happy.

"What sort of surprise?" Derek asked, looking at Aaron for some kind of hint or clue but Aaron just smiled back at them, refusing to say anything.

"The best surprise ever!" Jack insisted and looked at his father. "It came from far, far away didn't it Daddy!"

"How far away?" JJ asked as Jack turned to the door and their mouths fell open as an all too familiar friend walked through the glass doors, a broad grin on her face.

"London." Emily answered. There was a moment of stunned silence before Garcia squealed and Emily found herself being lovingly suffocated by Garcia.

"Oh my god! When did you get here? How are you? Why didn't you say?" Garcia demanded and beside her, JJ laughed as she had hurried down the steps and over to Emily.

"Let her breathe Garcia," JJ joked and Garcia let go. Emily had a second to herself before JJ hugged her too. "We missed you."

"I know, I missed you guys too. I only landed about an hour ago and Aaron and I wanted to surprise you. We figured that you guys could all do with something to cheer you up." Emily explained as Derek grinned and hugged her.

"Well it worked, long time no see Princess." Derek said as they hugged before they broke apart and Emily playfully thumped him.

"You know I hate that nickname." Emily quipped as Spencer walked over and they hugged tightly. Spencer didn't say anything but Emily knew how much it meant for him to see her again. Out of everyone on the team, they had been the two who had always seen each other as the older sister and baby brother they had always wanted but never had.

"It's good to see you," Spencer said as they hugged and Emily nodded, knowing that this was far more than just missing one another. Spencer wasn't a hugger, this was reassurance that the other was here and safe. Just like at the compound with Cyrus.

"I'm so sorry about Maeve," Emily whispered and for a moment, Spencer tightened his grip before stepping back and smiling at her, not needing to say anything else about what it meant to have her back as it somehow helped to ease the loss of the woman he had loved.

Alex took a step forward and offered Emily her hand. "Nice to meet you Emily, I'm Alex. The team have all told me a lot about you."

"I dread to think," Emily said and instead of shaking Alex's hand, gave her a hug. "Thanks for looking after the family."

"It's been my pleasure," Alex said and Emily walked over to Dave who hadn't said anything and Emily could see the tears in his eyes. Seeing her again had clearly stirred up hard feelings for him and Emily didn't say anything as she hugged him. For a moment Dave was still but then he hugged her back and hugged her tightly.

"_Mi sei mancato Papa,"_ Emily whispered; 'I missed you Dad'.

"_Mi sei mancato troppo, mia figlia."_ Dave replied; 'I missed you too, my daughter'. They stepped back and Aaron and Jack walked over to Emily. Dave looked at them curiously and asked the question the rest of the team were wondering. "So how did you pull this off?"

"It was easy. Just a matter of booking some flights. I'm staying for two weeks and I've been owed the time off. I wanted to come back for ages but the timing didn't seem right. A week or two ago Aaron and I were talking about it, the next thing we knew I'd booked my flights." Emily explained to the team.

"We wanted it to be a surprise for you all, something to help cheer us all up after what happened. Not even Jack knew Emily was coming until today." Aaron continued, they did feel bad for lying but the looks on the teams' faces, their smiles and the way they had all hugged Emily showed that it had been worth it. Emily coming home had been something good for all of them, it was a way of reuniting their family and a comfort for them all after their loss.

Jack ran back to Emily and swung his hand in hers and Aaron joined his son and best friend and gave Emily another tight hug in front of the others. "It's great to have you back." Aaron said.

"It's honestly amazing to be back." Emily agreed, hugging him and Jack tightly. She was finally home.


	8. Reckless

**AN: This is based on one of the first prompts I got, which I only got round to writing now. I do apologise for that and I hope this makes up for it. Enjoy.**

Emily Prentiss was not usually one for acting rationally. Well, most of the time she wasn't. In her teenage years, had she acted rationally certain situations would have been avoided. However these days she liked to think that she had matured into someone who was rational, thought before she acted and resisted doing something stupid or reckless unless she absolutely had to. Emily Prentiss believed in acting rationally and not acting recklessly.

So why the hell was she kissing Aaron Hotchner then?

Her best friend. Her boss. It was so, so wrong.

But oh so right.

It took that thought to kick in for Emily to suddenly jerk back from Aaron and hurry out of the room and back into her own, shutting and locking the door behind her. They were in South Dakota for a case, catching their Unsub who had been targeting men in their twenties, and had decided to spend the night in the hotel and fly back in the morning rather than have a late night flight. Emily and Aaron had done what was their habit at the end of cases which was have a bit of down time either in the hotel or on the jet where they talked about anything and everything except the case. They talked about Jack, the team, movies or just joked around in order to lift their moods after another case forced them to see the darkness of humanity. This time however… Emily sighed and buried her head in her hands as the memories of what had happened in the past ten minutes taunted her.

"_How are you feeling?" Aaron asked as they sat in his room. Aaron was sat on the edge of the bed and Emily was perched on the windowsill. She had a thing when they stayed in hotels, she liked looking out the window when it got dark and it was a way for her to relax. _

"_Fine, you?" Emily asked, looking away from the traffic and facing Aaron. He nodded and shrugged off his jacket, rubbing his face. Cases were worked on long hours with little sleep and large doses of caffeine and when it was over all they wanted to do was sleep. _

"_Alright, just been a long day." Aaron replied and Emily nodded._

"_Tell me about it. Least we got our unsub and these people can sleep easy, knowing their safe." Emily replied as she hopped off the windowsill and looked at her best friend. "What's really up with you?"_

_Aaron shook his head knowingly, he never could hide anything from Emily. They knew each other too well. "It's Jack. I'm obviously doing all I can to be there for him but at the same time, I feel like I need to be doing more. Haley's been gone for six months but it's not gotten any easier and sometimes I wonder if I'm even being much of a dad at all."_

"_Are you serious?" Emily asked bluntly, taking Aaron's hands in her own and looking him dead in the face. "Aaron listen to me. I'm your best friend and you know I wouldn't lie to you. You are not being a bad father and Jack knows that all he has to do is pick up the phone and you'd come running. He knows that when you're away working, you're doing what he knows you do. You protect others the way you protected him. You're his hero Aaron and nothing will change that."_

"_But," Aaron began and Emily quickly stopped him._

"_Listen, I know it's been six months but there's no time limit on grief. These things take time and she was a huge part of both your lives. It's not a loss that's easy to recover from but you can do it and you have been. Jack has a stable life with you and Jess, he has a home and a loving family as well as an extended one who would all do whatever it took to keep you both safe. There's not going to be a day when this magically fixes itself but we can all help you through. you know Haley would be proud of you for how you have raised Jack since she's been gone." Emily said and she and Aaron hugged. Emily knew she was the only one Aaron would admit this to, would feel comfortable admitting this to. That was the sort of friendship they had, one where they could say anything to one another and know the other would understand and accept it without question._

"_What would I do without you?" Aaron asked as they broke the hug. Emily shrugged her shoulders and thought of a smartass response._

"_Completely forget what it's like to loosen up and smile?" Emily quipped and they both laughed. As she watched his face light up as he laughed, Emily felt this unexpected impulse take over her. She didn't know where it came from and it happened so quickly, so unexpectedly that she wasn't able to stop it. _

_Emily looked at Aaron before moving closer to him again and pressing her mouth to his. It had only lasted a few moments and was only a kiss on the lips but it was a few moments too long and before things could progress further; whether they wanted it to or not, Emily's sense caught up to her and she pulled away from Aaron._

"_I gotta go." Emily said and ran from the room._

"Nice going Prentiss." Emily muttered as she slapped herself on the forehead. Why the hell had she done that? Aaron was her boss, her best friend and sure he was handsome, there was no denying that but she'd never been attracted to him. This was Aaron. Hotch. What the hell made her do that? It wasn't like she had feelings for him. They were best friends, co-workers and it was beyond clichéd. Yes, they were close. They talked about anything and everything, worked alongside each other on cases, hung out when they were able to, had achieved that level of comfort around each other that leaning on one another when they were watching a movie or tired had become second nature. But that didn't mean anything.

"Who am I kidding?" Emily said, when it was considered that way; would it not be obvious or at least speculated that there was something between them. was there something between them? They were friends when she started the BAU, when Strauss tried to use her to get rid of Aaron, their loyalty to one another had led them to become best friends and everything that happened after that; the compound, New York, Foyet had all served to bring them closer together but Emily hadn't thought anything of it. It wasn't like high school when it was seen as impossible for guys and girls to be best friends with no romantic feelings involved. She thought that was the case here.

"Guess not given that you just trying to play Tonsil Hockey with him." Emily scolded herself as she rested her head on her knees. What was worse was that there was no excuse. She wasn't drunk or could pass it off as a joke. No, she was screwed and all because she lost her rationality for one second. Emily rested her head in her hands and shook it. This seriously sucked.

It was a nice kiss though. Emily thought before groaning. She couldn't deny it anymore, her feelings about Aaron had changed but she wasn't sure whether or not that change was a good or bad thing. Part of her was a bit scared to try and figure it out. Maybe they had to talk about it. Maybe, just maybe Aaron could possibly feel the same way about her. Could she ask? Did she have a chose? Whatever her feelings were, she pretty much made it clear that part of her at least was seeing Aaron as more than a friend. Could they risk it? Dare they risk it?

Emily was brought out of her thoughts by a knock at her room door.

"I gotta go."

It took the door shutting for Aaron to realise and process what had just happened. Emily had kissed him. Emily, his best friend, his sub-ordinate had just kissed him out of nowhere. He couldn't understand it, one moment they were talking, Emily was giving him amazing advice and support the way she always did and the next she had kissed him before bolting out of the room. Where had that come from? She didn't have feelings for him? Did she? And what about him, did he have feelings for her?

Aaron began to pace around the room, attempting to process his thoughts. He and Emily had been friends for years and different things had brought them closer, made their friendship stronger until they were as close as two people could be. Emily was the only one he really opened up to about things he normally wouldn't tell anyone. He told her about Jack's nightmares, about how he really felt about things but they also talked about lighter stuff. One of their favourite topics of conversations and de-stressors was devising various and oftentimes ridiculous ways they would prank or get Strauss fired.

Emily had a way of making him feel better, like there was some light in his life other than Jack, that he had hope for the future. She could make him laugh like nobody else, was a constant pillar of support and friendship and had been the one who found him after Foyet attacked him. Even before all that, when Strauss was trying to get rid of him and Haley left; Emily had been the one who helped him through it. She helped him ensure the team stayed together and stopped him drowning his sorrows the night he signed his divorce papers and there were a few times when he wondered how he would have coped without her. But that was because they were best friends right?

"Wrong." Aaron scolded himself as he kept pacing. He could lie to himself all he wanted but deep down, he knew his feelings for Emily were beginning to change. He always knew she was an attractive woman but over time he had been seeing her as beautiful. They had a close bond unlike anything else; they helped, supported and protected one another. Had a level of mutual closeness wherein they could call each other at any time and talk about whatever was on their mind, when working a case it was like they could read one another's minds and there were times when they weren't working when they would lie together and watch movies with Jack. Really the more he thought about it, the more inevitable it seemed.

But what could they do about it? Aside from being fully unsure of what they felt, it was clear that Emily must feel something for him given that she had kissed him but he knew that if it had lasted longer, then he would have kissed her back. So what did that mean? What would it mean if they did admit and act on those feelings? What about the team? Their jobs? Though not as bad as she had been in the past, Strauss was still watching their team like a hawk, waiting for misdemeanours for her to write up and threaten them with; they couldn't give her an iron clad excuse to start swinging her axe again.

Then there was also Jack to consider, it had been six months since Haley died and even though they had divorced long before that, Aaron wasn't sure how his son would react if he were to start dating again. Jack was mature for his age and he knew Emily, so it wasn't like Aaron was bringing a total stranger into his life but at the same time; could he do that? How would Jack react if there was a new woman in his life? Even as Aaron thought that, Haley's final words came back to him.

"_I want you to teach him about love Aaron. He needs to know you weren't always so serious."_

Was that how he was supposed to do it? Show Jack there was love in the world by allowing himself to love again? Could Emily be the person to do that? He didn't know but he had to try. It was worth a try, wasn't it? Before Aaron could stop himself, he walked out of his own hotel room and walked down the corridor to Emily's. This was reckless, his rationale was telling him but another part of his mind was encouraging him to go for it. They way he seen it, after they had kissed, neither he or Emily had nothing to lose but they could have something to gain. Surely that was a risk worth taking.

Aaron raised his fist and knocked on the door.


	9. Text Support

**AN: I found this prompt from a Tumblr blog after googling ideas and figured it would work well with some of the scenes we got back in series 7. Enjoy. **

_Imagine your OTP texting each other bad jokes because Person A had texted Person B saying they were having a bad day, so Person B initiated bad-joke sharing_

Emily sat on her sofa, rubbing her eyes wearily as she attempted to fight off the feelings that had been bombarding her all day. Feelings of isolation, lack of belonging, distrust from the others. She knew those feelings were all in her head and that the team did trust her and she was still part of the BAU family but even so, the thoughts and feelings stayed. She'd also had one another nightmare last night. It was the reoccurring one that had her waking up screaming. In the dream she's back in that goddamn warehouse with Doyle only instead of killing her, there's someone else with him whom he kills instead. The team. Declan. Jack. Even her mother. She always woke up at the worst part; when Doyle kills whoever else is in the dream and he charges at her; burning and stabbing her like he did before. She'd woken up screaming and the scar on her abdomen throbbing like mad. Emily had barely managed to calm herself down before she'd gone straight to a long, excruciating day at work.

Luckily they weren't on a case so her negative feelings didn't affect the case but at the same time, she wasn't as involved with the team as she usually was or tried to be. She couldn't muster up enough enthusiasm when JJ and Penelope discussed Henry possibly starting nursery school. She blanked Morgan and Reid's banter, didn't even notice Dave was talking to them until he asked her a direct question.

He had asked her, _"_Are you feeling alright Emily?"

Her response? A smile and nod of her head coupled with a comment about drowning in paperwork.

They bought it. Of course they did. Emily grew up in the world of politics and political back-stabbings as well as spending years as a spy. If she knew anything it was how to fake emotions and hide real negative feelings; sadness, disgust, hate behind a warm smile. Out-profiling the best profilers in the world was child's play to her.

Part of her wished she had said something but what could she say? None of them liked to discuss the fact that she had convinced the majority of them that she was dead. That they had buried and mourned her as such. Could she wipe the smile off Morgan's face? See the sadness in Dave's stance as he carefully masks his own expression? See Penelope's eyes well up with tears and JJ's remorseful staring contest with anything and anyone but the team. And Reid, could she really remind him that he almost went back to doing drugs, his own personal hell by his own personal demon because of her?

No. She couldn't. So instead she did what she did best since the age of 5 and had worked out that whinging about her mother's 'boring work dinners' was never going to get her out of it. She pressed down on the emotion and smothered it with a fake smile and changed the subject. It was just easier this way, even though she knew that avoiding the past didn't make it go away; a lesson she's learnt many times the hard way.

Emily shook her head and glanced at her phone which was sat in front of her on the coffee table. Sergio was perched beside her and Emily absent-mindedly ran her hand through his fur as she considered what Aaron had said to her a few weeks ago. That when she had a bad day that she should call him. Maybe she should call him. Then again, he was with Jack and the last thing she wanted to do was bring his own mood down. Aaron had his own, and Jack's demons to deal with. She couldn't burden him with hers as well. Could she? No.

Just as Emily reached that conclusion, her phone vibrated with an incoming message. Emily glanced at the screen and smiled to herself as she opened the message. "Speak of the devil."

"_Why did the chicken cross the road? To get to the other side."_

"What the hell?" Emily muttered as she texted as much in reply to Aaron. A few seconds later, she got another text off him.

"_Why is 6 afraid of 7? Because 7 8 9"_

"_Are you drunk?" _ Emily texted back, if she didn't know any better, Aaron was telling jokes. Wasn't it BAU fact that their boss had no sense of humour whatsoever? Why the hell was he texting her the sort of jokes you laughed over in elementary school?

"_No. What's brown and sticky? A stick."_

"_You're really not funny."_

"_Knock knock,"_

Emily rolled her eyes but replied anyway. _ "Are you kidding? Fine who's there?"_

"_Interrupting cow."_

"What?" Emily muttered before deciding it was better to play along and began texting back with the dutiful response but as she was halfway through the word '_Interrupting'_, another message came up on the screen.

"_MOO!"_

Emily couldn't help but laugh at that one. She had to admit; as old knock-knock jokes went it was pretty clever. Instead of texting Aaron back, she decided to call him. Maybe that way she would work out if he was really drunk or Jack somehow got a hold of his dad's cell phone and was texting jokes to everyone. She smiled to herself at the latter idea, imaging Aaron having to answer from everyone as to why he was texting them kids' jokes all night. Jack was a sweet kid though there was that little devious side to him that all kids had around his age. Emily pressed the phone to her ear and waited for Aaron to answer.

"Did you like the jokes?" Aaron asked as he answered his phone.

"The cow one was pretty clever, I'll give you that but the rest of them were weak." Emily replied a smile on her face as she considered the general good humoured tone in Aaron's voice. Out of everyone on the team, he understood best about her bad days. Primarily because he was the only one she'd really confided in about them.

"Hey, I'll have you know those jokes are some of Jack's best." Aaron retorted, smiling to himself as he heard Emily laugh on the other end of the phone.

"Aaron Hotchner, are you really blaming your terrible sense of humour on your seven year old son?" Emily asked flippantly. They all knew how terrible Aaron's sense of humour was, even he himself openly admitted to it and when they weren't away on cases, the team usually tried to improve his sense of humour. This was mostly done through messing around or pulling the occasional harmless prank but it also had the risk of them possibly getting into trouble for their good deeds.

Then again, planting a stink-bomb in Strauss's office hadn't been their smartest idea.

"No, he did suggest some of them." Aaron replied, smiling at his son who had willingly and cheerfully offered his father some of his favourite jokes to tell to Emily.

"That is sweet. I like a man with a sense of humour." Emily commented lightly before she felt the lightness that had come from the joke texts come crashing down around her. This was Aaron's own personal time with Jack, a time when he needed to focus on his son, not his co-worker. Even if she was his best friend. Emily was caught up in her thoughts that she missed Aaron's response but his next question brought her back to reality.

"How bad was it last night?" Aaron asked. Emily paused for a moment. She could either let it all out now or she could try and deflect. Deal with her personal demons by herself.

"What are you talking about?" Emily asked. At the other end of the phone, Aaron nodded to himself. He'd suspected she would do this. He did it himself too many times too; deflect or avoid the questions that meant admitting he'd been scared, upset, lonely or that the monsters still came to him at night.

"I know you had had a bad day today and judging by how tense, distant and jumpy you were, especially when you came in this morning I knew you'd had another nightmare last night." Aaron replied. Whilst he'd been too busy working to join in with the team's banter throughout the day, he'd watched them from his office at different points. Each time he looked, Emily was either distancing herself, her body language whilst appearing subtle was actually screaming out how she really felt and he'd caught sight of her almost jumping out of her skin when Morgan broke Reid's coffee cup. He knew his best friend and he knew she was not herself today. The way she was feeling was exactly how he felt on days too numerous to count.

"What happened to the 'no-profiling' rule?" Emily attempted weakly. She'd barely even seen Aaron today so if he had caught on then the rest of the team most likely had done too. Despite her skills at hiding everything, she still managed to mess that up too. Fan-freaking-tastic.

"Got thrown out the window along with my 'no-sense-of-humour' rule." Aaron retorted smoothly. "Come on Emily, talk to me. We agreed that if you were ever having a bad day that we would talk about it."

Emily felt the last of her resolve crumble and slowly nodded her head before realising that Aaron couldn't see her. "Alright," she whispered.

"What was the nightmare about?" Aaron asked carefully. "You don't have to tell me everything but just tell me something, you know I won't push any further."

"No, I-I need to talk to talk about." Emily replied and took a deep breath; finally willingly allowing her mind to give her the images it had been tormenting her with all day. "It's the same nightmare. Sometimes I have different nightmares about him but this is the one that happens most often. I'm back in that warehouse with Doyle but there's always someone else. Someone else who he kills in cold blood because of what I did. I watch them die and then he charges at me with that… that table leg and then, then I wake up screaming with my stomach hurting like a bitch. Last night, it was Reid and he was crying, screaming at me to do something and I couldn't. My hands were tied, I couldn't save him."

As Emily quickly wiped her eyes and got a hold of herself, Aaron took in what she said and understood exactly how she felt. He'd had nightmares just like that one, still had them to this day. Nightmares created when the subconscious is betrayed by the remorse fuelled by the mistakes made when they had had no other option but to do what had been done. He knew that right now Emily didn't need the 'It was a dream' line; she needed someone who really understood.

"I'm not going to bother with the whole 'Doyle's dead, he can't harm you' story. You know that and I won't insult your intelligence. What I will say is that I do truly understand how you feel. The nightmares you have, I have them too. Not every night but frequent enough so that I don't forget the choices I made. Not that we need reminding of course." Aaron said with genuine truth in his voice and his tone turned understandingly bitter at the end. These were their lives; they knew the choices they made and the implications and impacts of those decisions. They lived with them every day of their lives, wore their battle scars on their bodies as signs of both their penance of their mistakes and the triumphs that they lived whilst their enemies died.

"No we don't." Emily agreed, understanding exactly what Aaron was telling her. Whilst her nightmares involved Doyle, Aaron's were based around Foyet and unlike her nightmares where she only dreamt that Doyle killed someone she loved; Aaron had the reality of waking up and remembering that Foyet really had killed Haley. Aaron was right; he really did understand better than the others what it was like to have something like this weighing on her shoulders. Not that the rest of the team didn't understand but Aaron understood that little bit more because they had both endured their enemy damage them not just physically but emotionally, mentally and even long after their deaths; still inflicted the same pain upon them as both Foyet and Doyle had in life.

"It will get easier. I know that's the most annoying cliché in the world but it's true. Somehow it does get easier and you know I am right here for whenever you do need me; whether it's to talk about it or hang out or even just go to a bar somewhere and get completely wasted; you know I am here for you Emily." Aaron reassured, smiling to himself as he repeated the same advice Emily had given him. It was actually the advice she gave him when she'd learnt that Haley had filed for divorce. The rest of the team had toed around the subject, respectfully giving him space but letting him know they were there. Emily being Emily had simply walked into his office the next day, said that and promptly went back to work. It actually had helped him feel better.

"Right now getting wasted sounds awesome but if I came into work hungover tomorrow my boss would go mental." Emily joked; her mood having been genuinely lifted by the reassurance of having Aaron's understanding and support with her.

"I'm sure he'd understand." Aaron quipped playfully, knowing that the joke was Emily's way of telling him that she was feeling marginally better about things.

"Nah he can be a real hardass at times." Emily quipped, laughing at Aaron's indignant 'Hey!' before she stopped laughing and felt a true sense of calm for the first time in what felt like so long. "Thanks Aaron."

"Anytime Emily, anytime." Aaron replied. "I'll see you tomorrow." 

"Bye," Emily said and hung up. As she set her phone down, she considered what she and Aaron had talked about. There was truth in their words. Things were rough now but their enemies were dead and gone to a place where they could no longer hurt them. Whilst the physical scars still marred their bodies, the mental ones would heal. Just like the men themselves had been reduced to figures in a nightmare, so too would the nightmares fade until she and Aaron were no longer scared by them. It would take time but someday, that day would come. She knew it would.

A few weeks later, the team got on the jet and threw themselves into the seats, longing to forget the horrors that the latest case had brought them. Cases involving children always hit them for six but this UnSub had gone after blond boys aged between six and ten; abducting, molesting and strangling them. They'd caught their UnSub and managed to save the last child he'd abducted; an eight year old named Robbie but even so; it hadn't been easy for any of them. Especially Aaron. One of the victims had been the spitting image of Jack and the idea that a case as horrifying as this could be somehow connected to his son just filled him with dread. As well as the reminder that Jack had of course, found himself the target of someone far more evil and twisted than the son of a bitch they'd just caught and what could have happened then…

Aaron was brought back to reality by his phone vibrating in his pocket. Aaron pulled out his phone and read the text message from Emily.

"_What kind of bees make milk? Boo-Bees!"_

Aaron quickly covered his mouth to stifle the laughter prompted by the immature joke. A few seats in front of him, Emily looked around at Aaron who caught her eye and smiled back at her.

**AN: Because I have the maturity of a five year old, I will admit that I did laugh at some of the jokes in this. I'm so mature…**


End file.
